Desperate for Love

by Aliana James

  Okay, and it’s our place.

  He rolled his eyes and smiled as he pocketed his phone. It took him two seconds to figure out his bearings, and he walked around the corner to Alec’s building.

  A doorman he didn’t recognize opened the door for him.

  “Can I help you, sir?”

  He hesitated as he wasn’t sure what to say. Alec valued his privacy and here he was coming home at three in the morning with no key. Oh, wait, he did have one.

  He dug around in his backpack as a security guard approached from the reception desk.

  “Are you visiting someone?”

  “Yes, Travis Andrews. I mean, I’m Travis Andrews… Bennett. I live here.” He’d have to get used to saying that. Should he change his name? They hadn’t discussed it.

  The security guard consulted a list, nodded, and the doorman turned toward the elevators.

  “Mr. Andrews, right this way.”

  He entered the elevator and pressed Alec’s floor. It was weird to be in an elevator and not make small talk. Did you speak to the doorman? What was the proper procedure?

  The elevator door opened. He dug his new key out of his bag and opened the door. Silence and darkness greeted him. As his eyes adjusted, any minute he would bump into something. There was no light in the hallway as the clouds shielded the moon. He fished out his cell phone and clicked on the flashlight app.

  A bottle of water and a quick shower, in that order. He was hungry, but he had a protein bar in his backpack that would tide him over until morning.

  As he passed Alec’s door, it opened and light spilled out into the hallway.

  “Hey,” Alec said.

  He stood leaning against the doorjamb, hair rumpled and voice low and deep. Holy shit. Sleepy Alec was sexy as fuck. His eyes traveled to his chest, naked and on display, and then to the cute pajama pants.

  “Are those cartoon characters?”

  “Yeah, so?”

  He laughed. Never would he have thought macho military Alec had a thing for bunnies.

  If he stood here any longer looking at him, he would have a problem in his pants. And be thinking about a goodnight kiss.

  “It’s been a long day.” He turned to his door. “So I need…” He pointed in his room.

  Alec nodded. “Night.”

  Travis closed the door and leaned back against it. He stopped himself from banging his head. Idiot. Why can’t he have a rational conversation with him?

  He threw his backpack to the floor and stripped on his way to the bathroom. Under the spray of the hot water, he was more annoyed at himself than turned on. He’d never reacted like that before, they’d gone swimming, been in the gym together.

  The kiss—that was the problem. If he hadn’t kissed him, enjoyed those muscles shifting under his hands, he wouldn’t be such a babbling idiot. If the sight of Alec’s bare chest rendered him speechless, how the hell would he survive?

  Chapter Eleven

  Alec

  Visiting the Manhattan main office was always a pain in the ass. He loved the city but the main office not so much. There were too many moving parts to make Bennett Industries tick.

  Bennett Industries took up half of a city block. His great-grandfather purchased these buildings for practically nothing when this section was a haven for the lower class. Grandfather told him the story of how everyone laughed at his father and told him he was crazy.

  And then they started revitalizing and cleaning up Times Square. Years passed before they renovated the buildings, but now Bennett headquarters rivaled some young tech companies that catered to the millennials. That was one of the many reasons their employee turnover was low. His father and his uncle both scoffed at the improvements and called them a waste of money.

  Alec entered the main building and scanned his ID card. The large paneled glass windows brightened the lobby with a yellow beam of sunlight. It created it an airy atmosphere, or maybe it was the coffee shop in the lobby. He hiked his bag higher on his shoulder and got in line to place his order.

  They had remodeled the coffee shop since he was here last month. New gray and red tables with matching chairs replaced the dull brown ones. The floor had been upgraded to match with gray and brown wood, and that color scheme carried over to the counter and behind the register, where an accent wall stood with matching wood.

  “Can I take your order, sir?” a smooth voice asked. He turned and gasped.

  “Julian! When did you get back?”

  It wasn’t hard to explain his attachment to Julian, he was a younger version of himself. A success despite their fathers. Besides his twin brothers, Julian and Thalia were the only full siblings in their generation. Despite their father, Thalia and Julian both turned out to be amazing people with brilliant minds for business. The jury was still out on their half-brother Antonio.

  “Alec!” He paused and turned toward a girl behind him. “Help the next customer, please.”

  Julian gestured for him to move to the end of the counter.

  “What do you want in your coffee?” Julian asked as he grabbed a marker and a cup.

  Alec placed his order and Julian wrote it on a cup while telling the barista something as he exited on the side. He waited for him to finish speaking to another employee. Julian tried the hardest to get out of the family business and nearly succeeded. Then their grandfather decided to add restaurants and coffee shops to several of Bennett’s properties. Julian’s degree in restaurant management and his love of cooking had all but sealed his fate as the head of the new restaurant division. He argued with Grandfather about the cost-effectiveness of leasing the space out to celebrity chefs and while he agreed to do so, Julian still got stuck managing the properties and handling the eight coffee shops.

  A couple vacated a table to his left, and he grabbed a seat to wait out his cousin. He looked good despite all his travels. As hard as Julian worked, he played just as hard. They made it a point to meet up at the family home in the Bahamas.

  “Here you go.” Julian placed a coffee in front of him and a plate with a brownie. His mouth watered at both. “Hot from the oven, for my favorite cousin.”

  He laughed. “How are you doing?”

  “I’m well.” Julian leaned toward him. “I should ask you how you’re doing.” His eyebrows raised at Alec as he toasted him with his own cup of coffee.

  It never surprised him how fast news traveled on the family grapevine.

  “You know,” he said.

  “Who doesn’t?” Julian said. “Grandfather couldn’t wait to share the news.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure.”

  “You devil. I should warn you that some think the timing is convenient.” Julian sipped his coffee. Alec knew the deal: Julian also hated the family politics.

  “They can think whatever they want. You know Travis.” The brownie melted in his mouth and a burst of chocolate flavor came over his tongue. He would eat these every day if he could.

  “I do. You guys have been friends forever.” Julian lowered his voice. “But why the rush? Why a JP? Why not have a nice ceremony?”

  Tyler needed his help. But if he confessed that to Julian, it wouldn’t be a good idea. As much as he loved him, he didn’t trust him to keep his mouth shut and the fewer people who knew, the better.

  “The mothers would have gotten wind of it and caused a big ruckus trying to one-up each other. It would have been a nightmare.”

  Julian laughed. It still struck him as weird. For some odd reason, and ones that did not make any sense to their children, all of his father’s and uncle’s wives, girlfriends, and mistresses were on friendly terms. He’d grown up spending summer months in Europe with his siblings as well as Thalia and Julian.

  “So have you seen Antonio?” Julian asked.

  Antonio’s mother kept him isolated from the family. Grandfather wormed his way in by his persistence and money. But the rest of them, including his own siblings only met him over the last few months. Julian was the exception as he had met
Antonio two years ago. He took a page from their grandfather and pestered his brother to speak to him often.

  “Yes, I have.” He sipped his coffee. “A heads-up next time?”

  “Do you think I got a warning? You want a special privilege, huh?”

  “A text would have been nice.”

  Julian waved his hand. “You’ll live. He’s not so awful, no?”

  He smiled, when Julian got worked up about something his European accent shown.

  “Hmm, not sure yet.”

  An employee waved to get Julian’s attention.

  “That’s my cue. We need to get together soon, so I can congratulate your husband.”

  He laughed at Julian’s joke. Husband…

  “I’ll text you soon.”

  Julian nodded and slapped him on the back. He grabbed his bag and checked his watch. He had enough time to make it up to his office before his nine o’clock appointment.

  Travis

  Travis returned to his office, a stack of reports in hand, and Cynthia trailed behind him.

  “What do you want to tackle first?” Cynthia asked.

  Not the way he liked to start his week. Mondays like this meant long hours in the middle of the week that left him extra exhausted after his shifts at Raven.

  “Thomson wants a cost analysis done of all East Coast investments to see where the bulk of the revenue is. He may want to separate some entities and see if they could be acquired that way.”

  “Sounds like he wants to lessen the load and make the profit margins higher.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Okay, I’ll pull the reports for you to start with. In the meantime, please go through your inbox. I’ve marked several items that need your attention.”

  It was a constant battle between the two of them for him to pay attention to his email. She weeded out the junk, sorted the rest, and marked the most urgent. But even after that, she still had to remind him to get to it.

  “Travis, email first, please.”

  “Yes, Mom,” he answered, grabbing the stack of paperwork from her.

  “Oh my God, is that a wedding ring?”

  Shit. He forgot he had worn the damn thing today. He slipped it on yesterday while he unpacked and rearranged things at Alec’s so he wouldn’t lose it. And forgot to remove it this morning.

  “Um.”

  “Travis Andrews, did you get married?”

  He nodded.

  “Why would you not say anything?” She huffed. “I mean, sorry, I know I’m only your assistant but we talk about stuff… oh, never mind.”

  He blinked as he took in her words. The hurt in her voice was unmistakable.

  “Cynthia, I didn’t tell anyone except my parents and a close friend. Honest. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

  She nodded and sniffed. Oh no. Was she crying?

  “Cynthia.”

  “No, I’m sorry. It’s okay. It’s just that you’re like one of my kids, you know. I know you’re my boss and all but… oh hell, I’m sorry.”

  She turned around and all but ran toward the door. He skirted around the desk and caught up to her as she opened it.

  “Cynthia. Can you sit for a moment?”

  She stared at the floor and let out a big sigh as they both sat on the chairs in front of his desk.

  “Before you say anything, I want to apologize. That was highly unprofessional of me. I’m your assistant and have no right to complain if you don’t tell me things that happen in your personal—”

  “I forgot how you get when you get going. Can I speak, please?” he interrupted. Cynthia ran his life at work. He couldn’t afford to have her upset. And she did need to know what was going on. Not the full extent of what he did and why, but at least the facts.

  “It was a sudden thing. We got married on Friday. My parents and his grandfather were the only ones there. I left a voicemail for my sister and didn’t tell my brother until I saw him later that evening. I haven’t told anyone else because, between moving and work, this weekend was crazy. There’s a huge part of me that still doesn’t even believe I got married.”

  Cynthia waited a moment before she stared at him.

  “I didn’t even know you were seeing someone after Peter. What’s your husband’s name?”

  Husband. Huh.

  “Alec Bennett.”

  “Oh my God, you married Alec! Your friend Alec, the one you’ve hung out with, who I’ve had to call to make plans with, that Alec?” She froze. “He’s a Bennett?”

  He nodded and smiled.

  “As in the Bennetts? The ones who own a ton of buildings and real estate?”

  “Yup, that’s the one.”

  “Oh goodness, Travis, this is huge.” Cynthia gasped. “You’re a Bennett. That’s like real estate royalty. Does Thomson know?”

  Thomson’s reaction was the least of his worries.

  “Douglas is going to have a field day, you know that right?” she added.

  “I couldn’t care less. And no, Thomson doesn’t know.”

  Cynthia stood to leave and then paused.

  “What is it?”

  “My gut tells me that Thomson will not like it. Rumor has it that Bennett made an offer to Rolston.”

  Shit, if that was true, his life was about to get more complicated. The Rolston Group was supposed to purchase Thomson last week and declined.

  His phone chirped on his desk. Cynthia patted him on the arm as she left. At least she wasn’t upset anymore.

  He grabbed his phone and turned it over. Eight missed calls and twelve text messages, all from Peter. Wait, except two, one from Tyler and the other from Alec.

  “Travis, I have a Peter Sullivan on line two for you.”

  He picked up his office line. “Peter.”

  “Oh my God, Travis. I was so worried.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Why?” His deep voice yelled into the phone. “Why was I worried? You usually stop by on the weekend. You didn’t, then you haven’t answered any of my phone calls or text messages!”

  “I’m fine. I’m sorry.” He hesitated. Better to rip it off like a band aid. “I got married on Friday.”

  “Married? What do you mean you got married?” Peter sniffed. “I thought something happened to you.”

  Peter’s voice hitched.

  “I’m sorry. I should have replied.”

  “I guess you won’t have any time for me now. I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone.” Another sniff. “I guess this is what I should expect from now on.”

  “Peter, come on, man. Stop. I’m sorry, okay?”

  Peter worried about him because he complained several times about his late hours at Raven and the dangers of being in Manhattan alone in the middle of the night. Travis made it a point to check in with him so he didn’t worry. He forgot this weekend.

  The office door opened, and he glanced around the desk to make room for the new reports.

  “I really am sorry, Peter. It wasn’t like I meant to do it. It just happened.”

  “I know. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

  “I am.”

  He looked to see if Cynthia needed his help with the reports and gasped when he spotted Alec standing in front of his desk.

  “Travis?”

  “Yeah, I’m here.”

  “If you have any time this week… I mean, you might not have any now that you’re married. I’ll have to figure out how to manage on my own, I guess.” If Peter needed him to visit, he would fit it in somewhere. It was important that, as an accident victim, he knew he that had support.

  “I’ll make time and see you soon, okay?”

  Alec’s face scrunched up and his eyebrows narrowed.

  Peter blew his nose and sniffled. “I’ll let you get back to work. Bye.”

  “Bye.”

  He shuffled the papers to one side as Cynthia entered with the stack of reports.

  “Did you get to those emails?” she asked, eyebrows raised.

  �
�Not yet.”

  “Travis—” She pointed to his computer.

  “I know, I know. I’ll take care of it.”

  Alec sat in the chair in front of his desk and crossed his leg over the other one. It wasn’t until the door clicked behind him that he spoke.

  “Cynthia congratulated me,” Alec said.

  “I forgot to remove my ring this morning.”

  He had until five to finish these reports. He hoped whatever emails Cynthia needed him to look at could wait until then.

  “I thought you and Peter broke up.”

  “We did.” Where was he going with this?

  “Were you apologizing for getting married? Travis, I was serious when I said that neither of us can get any on the side.”

  You’ve got to be kidding me.

  “Alec, I understand that.” An unexpected visit from Alec wasn’t something he wanted to deal with today. “And were you eavesdropping on my conversation?” He picked up the first report and thumbed through it, mentally calculating how much time each of these would take. He needed to get started.

  “No, I wasn’t.” Alec sat back and smirked. “Didn’t Cynthia just tell you to check your email?”

  This man was a pain in his ass. “Why are you here?”

  “I came to see if you wanted to go to lunch.”

  “All the way over here.” Travis’s office location was located well out of the way of anything Alec had to do.

  “Yes, so do you have time for lunch?”

  His stomach growled. It had been hours since his morning coffee and a chocolate muffin.

  “I could eat, but it’ll have to be quick.”

  “That’s fine.”

  He pressed the intercom on his phone.

  “Yes?” Cynthia answered.

  “Do those emails need to be done right now or can they wait until after lunch?” A long-suffering sigh came through the intercom.

  “They’ve waited this long. I suppose another hour wouldn’t make a difference.”

  Alec

  After running into Julian this morning, he needed to see Travis. Things had been tense Sunday morning and then he left to go visit his grandfather. By the time he got home, Travis was asleep.